Increased construction costs impacting the price of renovation plans at Charlotte Rescue Mission

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte Rescue Mission is replacing the old with the new, but it's a project that comes at a cost. A price they say continues to increase due to inflation.

The plan is to build a brand new five-story men's shelter to provide free residential addiction recovery services.

“If we’re going to help our homeless neighbors then we have to help those who struggle with addiction," Charlotte Rescue Mission CEO Tony Marciano said. "The expanded space will be used for programming and classes and those kinds of things."

Initially, Charlotte Rescue Mission raised about $25 million to help cover the project. Now the total price tag is more than $38 million.

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“Obviously we’re all facing inflationary times so material costs, construction costs all of that has gone up," Marciano said.

According to a report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics building materials including items like concrete, lumber, insulation materials and paint rose more than 31% from 2020 to 2022.

This inflation is now directly impacting the Charlotte Rescue Mission, which said they plan to call on more generous donors to help make up the costly difference.

“There’s a lot of people we still haven’t had the chance to talk to and share with them the vision of this campaign," Marciano said.

The goal is to have the project completed by December 2023. Those interested can visit Charlotte Rescue Mission's website for the project to donate and learn more about the project and its progress.

Contact Briana Harper at bharper@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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WCNC Charlotte is part of seven major media companies and other local institutions producing I Can’t Afford to Live Here, a collaborative reporting project focused on solutions to the affordable housing crisis in Charlotte. It is a project of the Charlotte Journalism Collaborative, which is supported by the Local Media Project, an initiative launched by the Solutions Journalism Network with support from the Knight Foundation to strengthen and reinvigorate local media ecosystems. See all of our reporting at charlottejournalism.org.